Okay so week one is over. I don't think I have ever had such a full week ..ever. So many new people new experiences new lessons in Spanish, waves, alcohol tolerance.

Back to the start.

Got here on Sunday at noon a little ball of anticpation and excitement eager to get started. 'Here' is a modern eco- architect designed school/hostel with 10 rooms a large kitchen/dinning area and a backyard pool and hangin' space. As one of the first of the students here, I was free to spend the arvo swinging in the hammock by the pool and watch the others arrive and let first impressions sink in.

My schoolmates are a lovely mixed bunch. David - the oldests is a 50yr old retired professional angler who knows more about Bass fishing than is healthy but is good enough not to share. Jess the youngest is a 16 yr old half Costa Rican from Canada whose mother inexplicably allowed her to come here all on her own.

Most are American - and I am working with that, including three dancing girls (they are acutally in the Rockettes chorus line in Radio City NYC!), but there is also a Dane a couple of Swedish, and a German flight attendent.

Each day we are divided into two groups one of which goes surfing whilst the other does Spanish lessons (not everyone is studying Spanish but most are). In the evening we eat and then head into town to party. Then we get up early and do it all over again. Getting in at 3.30am and then getting up for an 8am Spanish lesson was hard - but someone had to do it!

Surfing here is so much better than in Sydney. The waves this week are not particularly big but they are so consistent that you can catch plenty and really make progress in improving getting up and turning etc. The beach is volcanic black sand so isn't so pretty as a lot of Aussie beaches but the warm water and palm trees and jungle coated mountains more than make up for that.

Yesterday we went up to Playa Hermosa 5kms up the road where there are no buildings near the beach. Picture if you will sitting on a surf board gently bobbing in the swell whilst the tropical sun sets over the pacfic which laps a deserted palm tree lined beach....ah its certainly not very Rockdale so far.

My surfing has improved each day and I am top of the class at this point. So naturally I got all excited and bought myself a new board (a foot shorter and a good deal better than my one at home) which I am going to test out tomorrow. I don't have any photos of me surfing but here's one of my classmate Isabella to give you the idea

Now, I imagine you are all wondering whether there is any salacious news of goings on here in the balmy Costa Rican night - well there aren't really, but as you can imagine from seeimg my female buddies here at the school they have no shortage of interest from the locals - but I am concentrating on the waves and not on girls young enough to be my daughters (almost) - ahem.

I am having a quiet Saturday night whilst everyone else has gone to visit a volcano - frankly I just need a rest. Three more weeks of this to go - jeez I'm such a victim...:-) Well I'm off to bed now, and like every night this week I'm sure I will dream of the ocean and the cries of the surfing guide who urges me on even in my sleep "paddle! paddle! paddle!"